Marching Forth!

" When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah " Psalm 32:3-4 Reading through this Psalm this week I was prompted to see this in fresh light.  David penned this psalm considering the oppressive nature of sin:  when he refused to confess and repent of sin it gnawed at him day and night.  The picture he paints is one wasting away in pain, a dry soul groaning in distress.  A tree lacking moisture withers and dies, and the drought of summer sapped him of spiritual vitality. There are certain foods which are delicious when moist, but when the moisture dries up they become stale and unpalatable.  Because of sin David's life became dry and stale.  It is a strange thing how the composition of baked goods changes dramatically for the worse when exposed to air for extended periods of time.  We do not need to int...

What pictures does "lovable" bring to mind?  Personally I think of a cute and fuzzy plush toy, a smiling face with outstretched arms just begging to be held close.  Synonyms for "lovable" include:  endearing, engaging, attractive, adorable, lovely, sweet, cuddly, charming and pleasing.  One thing these synonyms have in common is being lovable is largely based on appearances and subjective personal opinion--not by demonstrated quality of character.  We can put a great deal of emphasis on looking lovely, but that does not mean we are lovable. I was struck by David's exhortation in  Psalm 31:23-24 :  " Oh, love the LORD , all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful,  a nd fully repays the proud person. 24  Be of good courage, a nd He shall strengthen your heart,  a ll you who hope in the LORD . "  Forget the fluffy teddy bear with the embroidered smile:  God is the most lovable being of all!  God is worthy ...

Today a visit to the bathroom turned out to provide an unexpected object lesson.  We have an intermittent leaky tap in our bathroom which is the ultimate "jiggle the handle" experience.  If you have the technique and strength, it works ok.  But because the maintenance man didn't match the new handles with the old-style brass fitting it has always been difficult to keep from dripping.  So we have developed a workaround:  if the tap drips a cup is placed underneath to catch the water to prevent wasting it.  Then when I come in to wash my hands, I crank that puppy down--much to Laura's dismay. As I watched the water slowly form under the tap and drip into the cup, I mused how pointless it would be to try to keep the tap from dripping with a finger.  Attempts to keep the water from dripping by hand pressure or placement of a cup underneath does not address the internal problem with the tap.  It needs to be pulled apart and fitted with a new plunger...

" And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief ." Hebrews 3:18-19 God brought the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt by a mighty hand and led them to the threshold of the Promised Land.  Yet upon hearing a bad report by 10 of the 12 spies sent into Canaan, the people were filled with fear and even regretted leaving Egypt!  They believed the reports of huge fortifications and giants in the land instead of looking to the almighty God who had brought them thus far:  the One who led them out would bring them in with victory.  Because they would not enter in God decreed that generation (save the two faithful spies Joshua and Caleb) could not enter the land.  Their unbelief led them to rebel rather than obey. This is an incredibly relevant and thought-provoking situation to consider personally.  If unbelief prevented God's people...